Curtain-fixture



, UNITED STATES" PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES E. BTATES, OF CHESHIRE, CONNECTICUT.

CURTAIN-FIXTURE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 244,844, dated July 26, 1881.

l 7 Application filed April23, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. BATES, of Cheshire, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Im- I specification, and represent, in-

to a spindle secured to the bracket, so as not to rotate with the roll, and so that in unwinding the shade from theroll, as in'drawing it down,

the spring is wound, its reaction serving to rewind the shade upon the roll.

In order to hold the shade at any desired position an engagement of some kind is necessary between the stationary spindle and the roll. This is usually made by a pawl and ratchet arranged so that as the shade is drawn down the pawl will engage the ratchet when the pulling down is stopped, and hold it in that position then, to release it, the shadeis drawn a littlefarther down, so as to take the pawl from the ratchet and then permitted to run up quickly, which quick movement prevents engagement of the pawl with the ratchet, usually because the centrifugal forceof the revolving roll will throw the pawl'outward away from the ratchet then, when the speed is slackened, the pawl will again fall into the ratchet. This pawl-and-ratchet arrangement is sometimes made in the end of the roll, sometimes between the roll and the bracket; but in all cases a serious difliculty arises from the use of this pawl and ratchet. The hammering produced by the pawl striking the teeth of the ratchet, or vice versa, wears rapidly upon the teeth of the ratchet and the nose of the pawl, frequently breaking one or the other, and

eventually making'it difficult to engage one with the other.

The object of this invention is to dispense with the pivoted pawl, and avoid the wear which is incidental to the use of the pawl and ratchet and it consists in the construction as hereinafter described, and particularly described in the claims.

A represents the tubular shade-roll, within which is the spindle B, constructed to engage the bracket at its outer end, I); C, the spring within the roll, engaged with the spindle and the roll in the usual manner, so that as the shade D is drawn from the roll it winds the spring, and when released the reaction of the spring winds the shade onto the roll.

In the best arrangement of my invention a metal ring, E, is fixed to the end of the roll, concentric with it and the spindle, and on the inner surface of the ring one or more notches, a, are formed, of a shape substantially semicircular, with the one side, d, opposite the direction in which the shade is unwound, rounded or inclined outward, as seen in Figs. 1 and 21 Within the ring and made fast to the spindle is a disk, F, of substantially the same'thickness as the ring E. In this disk F a notch,f, is cut, in depth equal to its width and. of width substantially the diameter of the semicircular notch a in the ring. The position of the notch f is radially below the spindle, as seen in Fig. 1, and so that in the rotation of the shade one of the notches a will come into line with the notch f in the fixed disk F, as seen in Fig. 1.

n is a round disk of metal, corresponding in diameter substantially to the width of the notch f in the disk F, and so as to play freely therein. This disk is placed in the notch f of the disk F free, and over the whole a cap, G, is placed to prevent the disk 11 from falling out.

The operation of this construction is as follows: Supposing the shade to be stationary, one of the notches a will be directiy below the notch f in the disk F, and so that the disk at will drop and rest therein. The action of the spring tends to revolve the roll in the direction indicated by the arrow. This tendency of the springforces the back of the notch a against the disk a and that disk'against the opposite edge of the notch f, so as to block the turning of the roll and retain it in that position until the disk a shall have been removed from its engagement with the notch a. This engagement is produced by drawing down the shade, as indicated by the arrow h, Fig. 2. This drawing down of the shade brings the opposite inclined edge, d, of the notch a against the disk at, as seen in Fig. 2, and causes it to rise into the notch f until entirely within the periphery of the disk F, as indicated in broken lines, Fig. 2. This done, the shade is released, so as to permit the spring to give a quick rotation to the roll, and such quick rotation prevents the disk on from falling into the notch as it comes below it; hence the notches a will successively pass the notch f until the revolution of the roll be retarded to such an extent as to give the disk on time to fall into the notch below. The disk at being circular will revolve on the inner surface of the ring E, and hence newpoints of contact will be continually made on the roll in the engagement of the disk at between the ring E and disk F, and so that the wear which, in the use of a pawl, comes in the shape of a constant hammering will be entirely avoided. The great strain or wear upon the ratchet is avoided in this case, because of the circular shape of the disk n and corresponding shape of the notch into which it falls. The wear or hammering of the notch is extended over so great a surface that the difficulties of the pawl and ratchetare avoided.

While I prefer a flat shape for the disk n, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that it may be spherical and work to great advantage.

Another advantage of this construction is its economy-as, for instance, the disk at is struck from the center of the disk f to make the perforation through which the spindle passes. The disk F may be struck from the center of a disk to form the ring E, so that the labor in forming one part practically forms two parts.

It will be understood that the disk F, with its disk a, may be attached to the bracket in like manner as the pawl is attached to the bracket in other fixtures of this class, and also that the disk F may be attached to the roll, and the ring E to the spindle or bracket, and the relative position of these parts changed substantially, as may the corresponding parts in other fixtures of this class.

Itis obvious that the disk F may be regarded as merely an enlarged portion of the spindle, and that by varying the proportion of the parts, as shown in Fig. 4that is, extending the part E radially inward to the spindle and forming the notch f in the spindle, with the disk a correspondingly smaller in diameter--the same effect may be produced without enlarging the spindle or forming the disk thereon.

I am aware that a small loose disk or ball has been employed as a means for engaging the roll with the spindle, and therefore do not broadly claim such device.

I claim- 1. In a spring-curtain fixture, the combination of the ring E, constructed with one or more notches, a, the disk F within the ring made fast to the spindle and constructed with the notch f of sufficient depth to receive the disk at entire, and the free disk n, all substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. The combination, in a spring curtain-fixture, of a stationary spindle, B, provided with a notch, f, of sufficient depth to receive the disk 41 entire, the ring E, constructed with one or more notches, a, and the free disk a, substantially as and for the purpose described.

CHAS. E. BATES.

Witnesses WILLIAM G. DOOLITTLE, H. G. Moss. 

